Ray Lewis: Crime rate will rise if lockout lingers

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis believes there will be an increase in criminal activity if the NFL lockout lasts into the regular season. And he’s not talking about crime committed by NFL players.

Lewis told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio that he thinks there’s a segment of the population that will be at risk of turning to criminal activity if there’s no football to watch on Sundays in the fall.

“Do this research if we don’t have a season — watch how much evil, which we call crime, watch how much crime picks up, if you take away our game,” Lewis said. “There’s too many people that live through us, people live through us. Yeah, walk in the streets, the way I walk the streets, and I’m not talking about the people you see all the time.”

Uh Ray, we seem to be doing just fine during the offseason ever since the beginning of time. We do still have College football.
Last and def not least, I think you should worry about the players and not the fans turning to crime. If you want research, take a look at the turd meter from time to time.

Sorry to disappoint you Ray, but I will not be going on a massive crime spree if there is no NFL season. America loves the NFL, but I don’t think we are so desperate for it that we would begin rioting in the streets and murdering people.

Why is there no correlated in increase in crime in the off season when there is no football on Sundays?

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That’s exactly what I thought when i read his statement. I’m no Criminologist (if that’s a word), but do you need a lost season to study this? Can’t you just look at crime stats from the second week of Febuary through Labor Day?

Oh! He wasn’t talking about just the Player? Having once lived in Baltimore, I can almost agree with him. If you are not, in a bar watching football, then you are out on the street mugging, raping, and murdering innocent people who would otherwise be at the Stadium, or home watching football!

1. spend time with family
2. hang out with the boys
3. get drunk with the boys
4. get high with the boys
5. play some video games
6. watch a movie
7. watch tv
8. GO FLY A DAMN KITE, IDFC!!!

dear rayray: youre without a doubt one of the best linebackers to ever play, but the fact that you think people would go out and commit crime (on a sunday, no less) just because theres no football game on really shows me how your mind works.

I understand where Ray Lewis is coming from with that statement. What I will say is that there is no conclusive evidence to prove or disprove that notion yet I will admit there are many who live through them ie Financial support “entourages” and by them “As in the Hardcore Football Fan who Watches every game and plans around it”.

I will have to give him the benefit of the doubt crime may increase but not to an overblown rate.

Besides, doesn’t Ray play in Baltimore? I thought, according to Omar in season 3, that there’s some type of code in Baltimore that you don’t commit crimes on Sundays. Or maybe it was just Sunday mornings when you’re taking Grandma to church. Need to dust off my “Wire” DVD’s.

He says people live through us…..i wish these idiot players would quit thinking they are gods…. i cant even stomach these players anymore…..you play a meaningless game……ray, guess what…..im more in awe of my marine next door neighbor who just did his 3rd tour in afghaniston …..oh, ray….here is a name you know that has real bravery and courage that we should be in awe of and not punks like you…………………………pat tillman

so the people that are going to commit crime anyway are distracted on sundays, and monday night, what about tues – thurs? and how much crime is committed on sun by the same small percentage of the population that are criminals after they had too much to drink watching football? and what about the home invasions that are stopped because honest people are home instead of attending the game or a social function to watch the game? do any of the players still have a connection to reality?

8man says:
May 22, 2011 4:11 PM
Crime will rise anyway. There are more lazy scumbags born every minute and each of them completely bereft of the talent, intellect and initiative it takes to make it in this world.

And they all have an excuse for their actions. But we never get to hear from their victims. I will never understand why we don’t execute more violent offenders.

Ray Ray Ray Ray…for a man that usually speaks with intelligence this is not one of your better interviews…however I do work for the postal service and there are ALOT of no life I know all about football and live and die with this game guys that are a little…….unstable…..pray for me!!!! Lol

Crime will rise anyway. There are more lazy scumbags born every minute and each of them completely bereft of the talent, intellect and initiative it takes to make it in this world.
=============================
Idiotic.

-15% of the population on food stamps
-much higher unemployment
-bankrupt county level muncipalities
-tent cities springing up in places like Fresno, CA and in the rust belt states
-prisons having to let out offenders due to same bankruptcy
-has nothing to do with “scumbags”

Does Ray actually think that these poor, desperate people he’s worried about are going to sink lower into desperation without football on Sunday? He’s not talking about guys who normally sit in front of their big screen TV’s with a beer and a sandwich, and will now be planning crime sprees. Football is not the glue that holds the truly desperate together! Just ludicrous.

montanared says:
May 22, 2011 6:26 PM
Once again Ray reminds us (1) he went to college on an athletic scholarship, and (2) he didn’t graduate.

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Lewis, who played in the 2004 Pro Bowl, fulfilled a promise made to his mother Sunseria by earning his degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland in May.

Its funny how idiots like you can make stupid comments about people. Your comments reminds me how ignorant our society is.

Ray makes an intelligent sociological comment, so of course, it brings out the Neanderthals of PFT. Some days it’s really sad to see what lurks here.

@literofcola …

He wasn’t talking about you, doofus. He specifically referenced “the streets” and people with nothing else in their lives. It’s not all about you.

@iamtalking …

Obviously you didn’t even read the comment but were just suckered in by the headline. He wasn’t talking about the players but was making an astute observation about how football gives some elements of society a focus and a way to act out.

@8man …

Human beings are not born lazy scumbags anymore than they’re born self-righteous jackasses.

Oh my goodness. Please make the players stop talking. “There’s nothing else to do…” Somebody needs to get to the agents, and get them to issue gag orders to clients, or the smart players have to talk slowly, in simple sentences to the really stupid ones. Do not say any more. About anything. They are actually making me not want to watch them.

“8man says:
May 22, 2011 4:11 PM
Crime will rise anyway. There are more lazy scumbags born every minute and each of them completely bereft of the talent, intellect and initiative it takes to make it in this world.

And they all have an excuse for their actions. But we never get to hear from their victims. I will never understand why we don’t execute more violent offenders.”

The majority of NFL players are a positive influence on their communities and are far from criminals. Stop the ignorant comments with racist undertones. “The majority of the nfl is black therefore nfl players are all criminals.” The facts prove different.
If you listen to the interview Ray Lewis is referring to the thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on NFL games every Sunday not just the players. I do think he is blowing it out of proportion though. Also, the stabbing jokes are funny as hell. rofl

Wait folks! You misunderstood. He was referring to the Big Corporations, who without their ads telling us how great they are (BP is still cleaning up the Gulf and they want y’all to know how great they are for doing that) or how much we need them (every hot chick and wild party requires a bottle of Bud Light), will need to figure out new ways to dazzle us with their BS and skirt the laws by paying off even more politicians and judges (see the 8th Circuit COA). It’s a jungle out there! I understand Ray, I really do!

Don’t worry Ray, even if they murder someone, they will get a pass, just like you did. No one wants to hear about crime from a person like you. You should be in prison yourself. Double standards when it comes to law in America!!

Deb says:
May 22, 2011 7:07 PM
Ray makes an intelligent sociological comment, so of course, it brings out the Neanderthals of PFT. Some days it’s really sad to see what lurks here.
———————————————–
There is no substantive data available to support this specific of an assertion. It’s speculative at best and possibly inciteful at worst. Seriously.

tatum, letting scumbags out of jail to commit more crime does most certainly involve scumbags.

hedley, yer a dick. people who plan pregnancies and can afford them dont have an issue. they can also afford and know how to use condoms.

nbc/msnbc/cbs/abc/cnn/oprah watchers dont plan, cant afford and dont know how to use a doggone thing. and they watch networks with schitty ratings, to boot.

clinton, commit a what?

az cat wouldnt know a fact if it bit him in his botoxed-a$$. most crimes are committed by nubians and illegals. the media doesnt report jack. of course ray ray was talking about the hood. what else does he really know about? actually unlike a lot of america, most players are pretty close to reverting to criminal hood-action (yes they are black), and some even do it while they have a contract.

dickroy says:
May 22, 2011 8:17 PM
Don’t worry Ray, even if they murder someone, they will get a pass, just like you did. No one wants to hear about crime from a person like you. You should be in prison yourself. Double standards when it comes to law in America!!

Your mother should have swallowed you, but she didn’t. Ray Lewis has never been convicted of murder, so I find all of these murder comments funny. I wonder how much of a murderer would Ray be, if he played for your respective teams?

@Deb: Agreed completely. I think a lot of what Lewis is saying here is totally valid. Literally it’s as simple as giving people predisposed to crime something to do. That’s the philosophy behind programs such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, and that’s an effective program.

My Mother should have swallowed me!! You sound like a real good person. No matter what team he plays for, he was INVOLVED in a murder. He got nothing because of who he is. What gets to me is this guy talking about players getting into trouble.

Well I guess this is the perspective of the typical NFL player……………….when I don’t have a game to play on Sun I rob stuff!

I mean give me a break because there is no football people are going to turn to crime…………….wait I can hear it now the Ray Lewis Defense …………..”your honor I had to steal that car Ray lewis said without football I was worthless and needed to turn to crime” LOL

Ray go back to school and remember it’s good to kill the QB not people Ray!

This is the kinda stuff LT used to say when he was playing, so Ray you are 7 years away from that fate. Check ID at the door Ray

Ray didn’t provide substantive data, but as sf424 said, there is substantive data that finding alternative activities for at-risk kids makes a difference. So it’s not beyond reason that giving people from at-risk communities alternative outlets also helps keep them out of trouble. And I wouldn’t be surprised to learn someone somewhere has substantive data to back up that assertion. Ray is making comments based on his own observations of troubled populations.

@dickroy …

Ray isn’t talking about players getting into trouble. He’s talking about people from troubled communities getting into mischief if they don’t have that football outlet to keep them occupied. It’s a reasonable theory.

Because of my work, I spent several years living in ghetto projects in another country. People from those communities are much more interdependent than people from typical middle-class communities. Getting a multi-million-dollar football contract doesn’t cut those ties. As a young player, Lewis was still caught up in his old life and that’s how he wound up involved in a murder. He didn’t kill anyone; he helped cover for his friends. But his legal issues were resolved long ago, and he’s spent years since doing positive things for the community.

if you all realized that there is a world out there besides your perfect suburban lives you would realize that ray is making a legitimate point. criminals who live in the ghetto that are football fans will now not be able to watch football on sundays. so now they’ll be outside committing more crimes on sundays. and thus the crime rate rises. it makes sense. think people.

Everyone please remember this statement! When winter rolls around lets see how many players will have had something to do with the courts and police services?
I bet it will be a larger % then the fan population

8man says:
May 22, 2011 4:11 PM
Crime will rise anyway. There are more lazy scumbags born every minute and each of them completely bereft of the talent, intellect and initiative it takes to make it in this world.

——————-^

So anyone born in a tough spot should be executed or aborted?
what if it’s some rich snobs (parishilton/lindsylohan) doing crimes do we stick with the letting them get out of jail after an hour?

Im not for the whole bickering back and forth between the players and the NFL, but PFT did not release where he said ” Im talking about people that work in the stadiums , people who depend on us to play football so that they can feed there families”. So yes when he says they live through “us” They essentially do. No football no jobs for the working people that provide the vending services, stadium clean up and so forth. I do hope they get a deal done Not for the game itself but for the people who depend on the income/extra income.

This is another reason why some athletes don’t need to speak, Ray is a great player, but this is among the stupiest comments ever from players. I’ll add him to the of those that should just play and not talk, Cromatie, James Harrison, etc… I agree with Ray, but the only crime that rise is the one committed by players who don’t know what to do. Once again, Ray is been way too overdramatic. He make it sounds like people are getting out the street in panic mode and start stabbing their neighbors. Ray just shut the F..k up

That’s a great question and it actually leads to my next point which is, in the course of determining what factors lead to criminal behavior, one of the prevalent factors is poor or abused childhoods. Which is, of course, an indicator that some people are having children that they do not have the resources or capabilities to raise. So yeah, these types of people should stop having kids. Dude, in some cases, we are subsidizing the breeding of criminals.

I’m not a “it takes a village to raise a child” kind of guy.

And I don’t care of it’s Paris Hilton, Paris France or Paris Jones. If you break the law, you get punished! And I think I said we should execute violent offenders. That’s a bit more exacting than being someone born in a tough spot.

If there was ever any doubt that Ray Ray played a major part of the Atlanta murders. this transcript should clear that up. Yeah, unfortunately he is right, there will be a small percentage of the “Ghetto” fans that will commit more crime on Sundays. They have 4 extra hours to devise their well thought out plans then drink a few extra King Cobras or Steel Reserves. But Truth is if people are capable of committing crimes, then they will find time regardless if football is on or not it will just get pushed back a few hours. Ray just stick to tackling people, and making commercials where you ride on oversized birds in Ray Ray land to sell soap.

Wow this is the funniest thing I’ve read in I dunno how long. “The people you don’t see all the time…” are you hallucinating or something? I have a very hard time believing he “walks the streets”, I mean who is he in the offseason, Joe Friday?

We all know the real reason crime will rise, no need for me to repeat it. This is so funny!

Of course, your argument is about a certain type of criminal behavior. But realistically, I’ve been repeatedly victimized by corporate con artists, bankers, and politicians lining their pockets with my money and have never been victimized by an American from the projects. My aunt worked 16-hour days nearly 35 years for the same company only to have them decide–just as she retired–to kill their pension plan. And the people who made that decision were probably born in nice middle- and upper-middle-class homes. They took a lot more from her than anyone would ever get in a purse-snatching.

I agree about executing violent offenders. But I consider bankrupting America an act of violence. Let’s start rounding them up on Wall Street.

Completely agree about Wall Street racketeers and corrupt politicians. They are the worst kind because they betray the public trust, do it repeatedly and often do it for a lengthy time. As a free marketer, even I see the necessity for intense scrutiny, oversight and severe penalty for lying, cheating and embezzling in each of those arenas.

But Wall Street is closed on Sunday, so there is little they can do if the games aren’t being played. 🙂

And I still fail to understand how not having the NFL play games this year will increase crime. Think about it. It will be millions of people not sitting in bars or their basements watching TV. Maybe they’ll do something positive instead, like cut their grass or spend more time with their kids.

I see many comments making fun of this statement but there is some logic to this. We probably would see a slight bump in some violent crimes. Not saying people will say “Hey there is no football, lets go do some crime!”. That won’t be the case but there will be thousands of young dumb people who will have one more day of their week to do some thing stupid. Idle hands are always up to no good.

Indirectly yes there could be a very slight rise in crime but nothing significant. If you look up crime rates there are several things that seem to effect them.

This is another reason why some athletes don’t need to speak, Ray is a great player, but this is among the stupiest comments ever from players. I’ll add him to the of those that should just play and not talk, Cromatie, James Harrison, etc… I agree with Ray, but the only crime that rise is the one committed by players who don’t know what to do. Once again, Ray is been way too overdramatic. He make it sounds like people are getting out the street in panic mode and start stabbing their neighbors. Ray just shut the F..k up

———————-

That isn’t what he said at all. Way to take something and turn it into something extreme. Did you even look at the full conversation or just look at these few lines and decide that was enough?

Reading this article, I thought Ray Lewis was smoking something; saying what he said. But after watching the ACTUAL video interview, I got a full understanding of what he meant.

There are those who DO live for football (and we ALL know these types of fanatics, i.e. the movie “Big Fan”). But the heart of which he was referring to were those who’s livelihoods depend on football. Stadium workers, small and large businesses, grounds keepers, security, etc. Couple that with an economy where finding a job is often near impossible or finding a job where 5,000 other people aren’t applying for the same position.

There’s a certain segment of the population that thinks crime and breaking the law is OK. There’s no accountability, zero parenting, zero teaching of right and wrong, and very very very little community pressure to teach their young to be law-abiding citizens. The failing culturally deep and on the verge of anarchy if the conditions were right, ie., no cops around. Notice that there was little to no looting or robbing in Japan after the tsunami destroyed large portions of the country? The Japanese teach their kids to respect society. Sadly, that is not the same for a certain portion of our country. FACT.

Wish as a free marketer you’d have that need-for-oversight talk with airraid77 🙂

Read the comment from redskinsrt. It’s just about having an outlet–and spending time watching games or working on your fantasy rosters instead of roaming around with nothing to do. Football takes up a lot of time–and it can be an outlet for letting out frustration and aggression in a nonthreatening way.

Spending more time with the kids? Gosh, my family bonds over football 🙂

@getweird4u …

Well, thanks for that thought. Do you have any suggestions for how to persuade poor, ghetto-stricken people to stop having babies? About 15 or 16 years ago, a community in New Jersey was experimenting with paying poor people not to have children. The program was pretty successful but there were big outcries against it from all sorts of groups. Any other ideas? Partisan groups fight any attempt to educate kids on birth control, much less to provide birth control. You can’t force people not to have children. Well, the Nazis did, but we’re not the Nazis.

@deb yeah i have an idea,
#1. Drug test ALL people getting ANY form of public assistance,if u fail cutoff.
#2 Limit public assistance to 2 children.
#3 Limit public assistance to (you pick the number of years) not 18 yrs.I believe once your kids get to the age of 6 where they go to school all day anyone can find a part time job of some sorts i.e. fast food.
#4 DO NOT let them use food stamps for crap food and soda pop if we have to support your as**s at least limit them to reasonably healthy food so we arent supporting your diabetes medications as an adult……

As a hard working lower middle class family it makes me sick to think that if me and my wife would get fired,enjoy 12 yrs of unemployment or whatever ridiculous amount of time we’ll run up our deficit to pay people to NOT look for work ,and then to top it all off continue to have babies to keep the welfare checks comin in we might actually be better off(my kids delivered for free,any health problems paid for) while i give the insurance company plenty of $ just to have them want to cover nothin without at least three phone calls makes me want to puke!No wonder people get so used to doin nothin it’s a vicous cycle that must be broke,and some people will fall by the wayside but all great change comes with a price.

Some people simply don’t have the mental wherewithal to do anything other than menial labor. And working 60 hours a week at McDonald’s will not pay daycare for one child, let alone daycare plus living expenses. And the state refuses to consider the government-sponsored daycare so many other nations have. So we have to pay people to stay home with their children.

Once the children reach school age, something still has to be done with them after school is out. And no one wants to fund after-school programs. You can’t leave the kids home alone because latchkey kids soon create their own problems in society by turning to crime and drugs and producing babies of their own.

You can tell people you won’t provide welfare if they go over two children, but what if they get pregnant anyway? It happens–especially since no one wants to distribute birth control or provide sex education in schools. Are you going to pay for an abortion? Nooooo, not with tax dollars, you’re not. You can’t force a mother to give up a child for adoption–that brings you back to the Nazi scenario. So are you just going to leave that child to starve, punishing an innocent baby for the sins of the parents?

My dad grew up picking cotton, and my mother worked two jobs from the age of 13. My brother the lawyer’s first job was digging ditches, and I never stopped working through three cancer battles. I’m no happier about busting my butt and handing over a third of my earnings to taxes than anyone else is. But these problems aren’t so easy to solve. And I’d rather face God knowing my money helped feed poor children than knowing it subsidized oil companies and bankers. And if we’re going to cut something, let’s stop hemorrhaging $$$$$–and lives–in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.

If we could actually see what’s going on in his thought balloon, Ray (sitting home in the moonlight, brooding & wearing a purple smoking jacket) is musing (suddenly, a knife comes flying in from the streets below through the open window) …”NFL fans is a superstitious, cowardly lot, so I must strike fear into their hearts… I shall become … The ShankRay!”

@deb
ur money helps prolong a busted system and buys food shelter and healthcare for LAZY people.Not to mention missles nukes and space shuttle missions,research on ducks,beavers and any other stupid ass pork barrel thing our senators,representitives can throw in there.We are flat ass broke as a country yet we spend like we are high on the hog.Kids are resiliant and i dont know where you live but where im from homeless kids end up in shelter’s and if u get pregnant three times without any money ur on ur own enough tryin to take care of ignorant people.

I know the system is broken. I know how my money is spent. The difference between us is that I believe we should work on stopping those pregnancies before they occur rather than just leaving people–and innocent babies to starve afterward. And I believe societies have a responsibility to take care of their children rather than throwing them into shelters and assuming they’ll be resilient while making sure we don’t overtax our billionaires as we bail out our irresponsible banks and Wall Street firms. Not all poor people are LAZY.

I don’t mind if some of my money goes to entitlements for people less fortunate than I am. I mind that most of it goes to support the wealthy and priviledged.

That won’t stop him from talking. He’s hall of fame material. TV cameras are going to be shoving microphones in front of his face until he’s dead in the ground. Judging on the sports press coverage during the lockout, they might even shove microphones in his face after that.

If Ray was talking about the loss of 2011 season as a hit to the economy, then Ray needs to think a little bit more before he speaks. Especially if he plans on fake-laughing it up with Shannon Sharpe in a couple years.

wow, let me see if I got this right. Ray Lewis, who killed two people at a bar in Miami after his team, the Ravens got lucky and won a superbowl, but was acquitted of the charges because the witnessess were intiminated by Ray Lewis and they didn’t testify, claims that if football is cancelled this season, that crime would go up. Who would have thunk it?